The New American Suburb

Reviews / Votes

'The old dichotomy between affluent suburbs and problem central cities of metropolitan USA is fast disappearing. Suburbs in the US are now at the forefront of wrenching change including increasing concentrations of the poor, housing foreclosures and growing racial and ethnic diversity. This edited book provides a wide-ranging discussion and case studies of this new metropolitan reality and is essential reading to understand the predicament of the suburbs and the possibilities of appropriate public policies.' John Rennie Short, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA 'Katrin Anacker and the authors advance detailed research into associations, causes, and consequences of diverse socio-economic and poverty trajectories affecting thousands of suburbs. The researchers explore important policy effects, such as urban containment policies, on suburban poverty, and whether urban sustainability policies can be implemented to increase equity among income and racial groups.' William H. Lucy, University of Virginia, USA 'American suburbia is not what it used to be: the classical donut? metaphor - suggesting an empty core and a sugar-glazed ring - does not hold up to serious scrutiny. A closer look behind the white picket fence reveals a complex social reality. While experts and residents have been suspecting this for a while, Katrin B. Anacker's edited collection The New American Suburb drills down through the multi-layered fabric that is today's urban periphery. The voices assembled in this important empirically rich volume are part of a more profound shift in Urban Studies: to rethink our metropolitan regions from the outside in.' Roger Keil, York University, Canada 'Once depicted as a refuge for the white middle class, American suburbs now display a puzzling mosaic of income and demographic diversity. The New American Suburb presents a broad and insightful portrait of this new social and economic geography. Addressing topics that range from th "[T]his book will be a useful addition to the shelf of any scholars interested in the changing socio-economic and cultural patterns of US suburbia. Many of the individual chapters could find their way into the reading packs for US urban studies courses. The suburbs of the US are increasingly socio-economically and ethno-culturally diverse and this book provides helpful testament to their ongoing fissures and ruptures."

Jago Dodson, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Australia, Housing Studies